A Virginia couple is suing Royal Caribbean Cruises and an excursion company after they sustained severe burns during a visit to the White Island volcano in New Zealand, according to a lawsuit filed Thursday in US District Court in Miami.

The volcano erupted on December 9, 2019, while 47 people were visiting the island. Twenty-one people were killed. Others suffered severe injuries.

The lawsuit alleges the cruise line and the excursion company, ID Tours New Zealand Limited, were negligent in not informing them about the potential dangers of visiting the volcano.

Full story here.

Tough story to write about because 21 people tragically lost their lives and others were terribly injured. Stories like these are difficult because all it takes for something like this to happen is listening to someone with authority who has no fucking clue what is going on, and the one in a million chance for serious consequences to occur. 

If we’re going to talk shit about anyone, and we are, it’s going to be to our old esteemed friends Royal Caribbean. You know what, I’ll go out on a limb and lump the whole cruise industry in there with them! Whether it’s been on the pod, or in the blog, we’ve talked over and over again about how going on a cruise is the first step one takes if you want to live a life of complete lawlessness. You want to talk laissez faire approach? This is as close to pure, uncut, hands off supervision as you get. 

For every one story you hear about a nice excursion, or a honeymoon that went according to plan you hear a hundred about a seven day brawl, norovirus outbreaks that give the bubonic plague a run for its money, and months at sea because of Covid 19. I’ve always said that if you want to experience what it was like to live in the medieval ages, the closest you can get is going on a cruise. Well this just adds to the list! Want to feel what it’s like to live in fear of a band of marauders? Take a cruise! Want to shit your organs out for weeks at a time with little to no medical attention? Take a cruise! And now, want to experience the full wrath of a volcanic eruption with none of science’s advancements to help warn you? Take a cruise! 

How hard can it be to just take a modicum of the respect, decency, and comfort that we experience on land, and bring it onto a boat? Apparently it’s the hardest fucking thing in the world, and even if you forget the fisticuffs, the lack of 21st, 20th, or even 19th century medicine, if I can find a bar lower than ‘don’t let people walk into an active volcano’ I’ll be sure to let you know.